Only about 25 percent of adult in the United States currently believe in exercising regularly to achieve physical fitness and overall well-being. Attaining and maintaining peak physical condition and not getting ?soft? is sufficient incentive for them. Another large segment of the population exercises as an adjunct to dieting efforts in an effort to be slim and trim, while others exercise in an effort to decrease their risk o f heart disease.

But whatever their reason for all this increased activity, more Americans are turning to a wide-variety of exercise regimens as a pleasurable and healthy experience.

Putting Exercise in Perspective

Lack of exercise is only one, albeit a strong one, among a number of factors, which may predispose an individual to the development of coronary artery disease. Some of these risk factors are inherent and cannot be changed, such as heredity (heart disease in several close blood relatives), being male (since middle-aged men are statistically more likely to develop coronary artery disease, although the gap is closing.) On the other hand, aging is significant, since both older men and women are more likely to have coronary artery disease, than middle- aged adults.

Other risk factors are amendable to modification. High blood pressure and diabetes are treatable. It is also possible to stop smoking, although in many cases, smoking cessation presents a definite challenge. Reducing daily stress in your life can decrease the emotional tension, which may predispose to heart attack. Also sometimes difficult, but significant, is maintaining a reasonable body weight, with an increased muscle mass, as opposed to fat content. This today, although you cannot alter your family history, blood pressure, cholesterol level, smoking, stress, obesity and other risk factors can be medically or behaviorally controlled.

High blood, fat levels, and physical activity can be difficult to address, as personal lifestyles become ingrained and repetitive, and we are creatures of habit.

Good consumption and physical activity become routines and difficult to change. Although challenging, modifying these two risk factors may turn out to be a distinctly pleasant experience. You will have the incentives of enjoyment and recreation plus health benefits as added encouragement. In addition to modifying your dietary intake, you will learn to change, and enjoy, your exercise habits, as you simply fell better and are able to perform your daily activities more easily.

By adopting these changes in your lifestyle, you can learn how to attain and maintain a higher level of physical fitness and lower possibility of becoming a heart attack statistic.

And even if you don't become chronically health-conscious, risk factor modification may lower the possibility of developing coronary artery disease, while becoming slimmer, fitter, and more energetic.

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